HAMPDEN/WILBRAHAM – Hampden Wilbraham Regional School District (HWRSD) Superintendent Albert Ganem began the May 20 meeting by recognizing the recent election wins of School Committee members Lisa Murray, William Bontempi and Michelle Boudreau. He also thanked Michelle Emirzian, who opted not to run for re-election after nine years on the committee.

Student Services Director Gina Roy updated the committee on the status of summer programs. She explained that there were not enough teachers hired for the summer season to run a special education program and a general education program. Enough teachers could not be found within the district and despite offering $40 per hour to out-of-district teachers, rather than the standard $25 per hour, there are still not enough faculty. Roy said that she has reached out to Bay Path University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst for leads on applicants, but has yet to hear back.

By law, the district must provide summer services for students with an individualized educational plan (IEP), but Roy said that the district is having trouble hiring enough paraprofessionals, too. Ganem said that there was a similar problem last year.

“Teachers work hard and they want to spend summers with their families,” Ganem explained.

The backup plan for general education students is to offer interventions rather than a full summer program. A last resort would be a remote summer program, said Osbourne. The special education program will take place at Thornton W. Burgess School in Hampden and at Mile Tree Elementary School in Wilbraham.

Ganem shared the most recent directive from Commissioner of Education Jeffrey Riley that all students are expected to be in person in the fall. While most of the district is back in-person five days per week, at the elementary level, 114 students have remained remote through the end of the 2020-2021 school year. The numbers for middle school and high school students are 85 and 268, respectively.

Other updates to guidance from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) have changed rules on masks. Masks may now be removed if they are outdoors during classes, physical education, recess, and while playing sports. Students at the 2021 graduation on June 4 will need to wear masks only if not vaccinated. However, they must be worn during the prom.

Ganem relayed the school choice numbers for the 2021-2022 school year. The district will be accepting 19 students from Springfield, five from Monson and one from Palmer. There are an additional 12 students on the waiting list.

Director of Finance and Operations Aaron Osborne said that the food services department is “slightly in the black.” He explained that food services makes its money from the purchase of snacks and other incidentals. With high school students back in the building, those sales have increased. “They’re the most prolific eaters,” of those products, Osborne said.

Osborne said that the summer lunch service program will continue at no cost to students. “Anytime you put a barrier in the way of getting something to eat, you get hungry students,” he said. “Hungry students aren’t prepared to learn.” On a related topic, he also announced that students with past-due lunch accounts would have those costs covered.

Device collection will begin soon. Principals are sending out letters with details on when and how Chromebooks, laptops and iPads must be returned to the school. If a device is required over the summer, a solution will be found, Osbourne said. The plan to distribute devices in the fall is being developed and Osborne said it will be much more methodical than this year when the district scrambled to procure devices at the height of the pandemic. Optional device insurance will also be available in the fall.

Committee member Sean Kennedy asked if students can use personal devices next year. Osborne said the teachers have been “loud and clear” that they do not want a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) option in the future. He said teachers have had to spend time supporting students with outdated technology. Emirzian noted that as a teacher, she can see what students are looking at on district devices, but not with BYOD. Committee Vice-Chair Maura Ryan suggested restarting the technology subcommittee to handle issues about how tech is used in the district.

Bontempi took issue with language in the searches and interrogations policy. Instead of stating, “an effort will be made to notify” parents before police interrogate a student, he said it should state that parents will be notified. Kennedy argued that schools are legal guardians while the student is on school property and therefore a school official can act in the same capacity.

Kiernan backed Bontempi’s point, saying that a parent should have to actively decline to be present before an interrogation is done without them. It was decided that the policy should be reviewed by the district’s legal counsel and the school resource officer.

A representative from the Massachusetts Association of Regional Schools (MARS) will be presenting an overview of strategic plan creation to the committee on June 10. Committee Chair Sherrill Caruana said that she has received questions about the progress of the equity audit, which will be part of the strategic plan. She explained that so far the district has voted to conduct the audit, received training by the anti-defamation league and is in the process of setting mission and vision statements. The next step is to establish a task force and the audit will be completed over the summer. After the audit, she said, action items will be integrated into the strategic plan - the guiding document for the district.

Caruana said that the strategic plan will need to have “committed” people from all parts of the community. Ganem agreed, noting that school officials, town officials, parents, students and staff should all have a voice.

Kiernan said that the equity audit should not be led by the School Committee, but by the administration. Bontempi added, “We’re here to support. It’s the district’s plan.”